hit and run

I hate it when people do that. Breakeven session:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424216

Eh it's a little awkward when he shoves turn because the c/r on the flop could be the flush draw and if he doesn't care about that then I could be in trouble, but if he just turned top pair or has KhXx I'm in business.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424222

Arguable that I could lead turn or river; I didn't on the theory that I was bluffing before and had caught showdown value so now I wanted to show down but should probably lead turn anyway because I have top pair and he could easily have a queen there. River is sketch because it's hard for him to value bet a queen but I didn't think he could have an ace based on the flop action unless it was AQ/A9 so I called because of the missed draws.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424230

Pretty standard.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424233

I could threebet flop here but we're deep enough that I dunno what to do if I make it like $20 and the turn bricks. I was planning on c/c'ing turn because the guy was nitty enough in smaller pots that I thought he'd fold the Jd if I led but if he led turn with it he might lead river. I think something like $25 and fold to a raise is better.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424243

Probably calling if he raises.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424248

Pretty standard, he'd been checkraising a lot of flops anyhow. He left after that one.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424254

Eh, it's a fine spot to double barrel. His line looks like an ace which is awesome because my implied odds are probably super good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424258

Usually they fold when I lead these types of turns. I could c/r the turn but that's basically making my hand a bluff so I just call. River is gin, most hands he'd call a bet with he'll bet himself (i.e. a seven or a nine) so I went for the c/r and got there.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424263

Turn's really good place to double barrel which makes it a really good place to call.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424270

Sweet.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424272

My line here is sort of weird. I wanted to raise the turn so that we could get it in on the river but if I fourbet over his threebet after I checkraise it seems like I would always have a set or straight so I felt like I had to call and lead river hoping he would raise. I can't c/r river after we go three bets on the turn because he's probably checking most jacks behind.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1424280

Yeah, I was just raising any two against this guy because he kept folding pf or flop so here it was like a gift. I raised flop hoping to get it in with queens or hoping he'd bluff-shove. That didn't work out. I can shove turn but I have position so I can give him the chance to shove river first.

today was a good day

Eclipse last night was awesome, then roll out of bed around one, eat some lebanese food, and go play poker for a few hours. Up 2.5 bi, some interesting hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420994

This is actually from a session last week that I never got around to blogging, and I'm still kinda iffy about it. I don't really like threebetting flop because it basically lets him shove his AJ+ and combo draws and fold everything else. Turn sucks but means he doesn't have the NFD meaning if he did just flush me my jack is an out unless he has QTss and if he had just an ace on the flop I still have infinite outs. Calling turn means I have to call the river especially when I hit the flush. Looks spewy but he did http://www.pokerhand.org/?1421002 that in a previous session. I ultimately think it's okay.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420865

This is normally just 5b shove, but it was like the fifth hand and shoving here is basically QQ+ or maybe AK, i.e. folds out a lot of what I have crushed. I plan to call and crai any nonace flop. Ace flops. Damn.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420873

There was some cackling after this one.

I forgot to save the hands to notepad so now I'm just pulling them out of PT, and they're not in chronological order. The relevant hands I'll post in order, though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420886

I think I'm usually ahead on this river so I'm okay with raising, but irc folk pointed out minraising is probably better than shoving because K9/KJ don't beat much and will probably just fold to a shove.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420895

Flop is actually mostly just a float; I planned to fold if he led the turn. He didn't, but the board was getting very drawy and I was pretty sure he'd have to lead an ace on it, so I just shoved. He snap called and I was like "oops" then "wtf?"

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420899

Not a big fan of raising flop because he folds his AK or whatever. I thought about bombing the turn, but figured if he has a king he's betting the river anyway and so there's not a lot of point. I guess he had KQ or maybe a pocket pair like 99 so I might've missed some value but I think against his range calling flop is best and calling turn vs raising is close.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420910

He actually misplayed every street.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420919

This call is a little questionable actually but he was the type who I thought would flat with QQ+ to go for the trap so he probably had something along the lines of AK or like 77-JJ.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420947

His line is either brilliant or stupid. I called the turn because his donk there looks like a bluff and I figured I'd take it away from him on the river. Then he looked me up with ace high and I about fell out of my chair in shock. It's actually really sick because I basically have a jack or air there most of the time because sixes and fours aren't in my preflop range. Villain seems to be on the clever side...

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420951

Which means that here I gave him a big middle finger. He wouldn't play a flush so passively; if he was just going to call the flop and turn he almost has to lead the river to get implied odds because I check behind most nonqueen hands. When he goes for the c/r his hand is almost certainly a bluff.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420960

Urgh, I tanked and folded; either I have three outs or he has half the deck. He got a note, though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420967

I'd been missing just about every single flop in reraised pots and had broken out the double barrel in the last one so this was pretty standard, but look at what he had.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420972

Bleh, nice hand. River is unpleasant but I think I have to call especially considering the above two hands.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1420975

On the flop he either has a draw or a jack, and looking at the board I'm basically just gonna stack off to sets or AJ, so let's max vs everything else. There's definitely an argument for making it more like $32 on the turn but I'd rather make a smaller turn bet to get him more committed on the river if he has a weaker jack.

long one

Two tabled for an hour and a half or so. Breakeven session, but I was fairly happy with most of it. I was still able to keep track of my opponents and tendencies, and the mistakes I made weren't because I was pressed for time or anything. The most interesting hands are towards the bottom.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403640

Pretty standard.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403645

Not a whole lot of point to raising anywhere in the hand; autofelting trips no kicker is a bad habit to get into. If he has a worse ace and I raise, he's gonna have some serious thinking to do and may very well fold instead of continuing to bet, while if he has a better ace I just get wrecked. I could minraise/fold the river, now that I think about it, but even that feels sketchy.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403669

This sort of sucks, but if he has a pair and a six folding and calling are both pretty miserable. If he has two pair that's also pretty miserable but in general folding is just so bleh with how draw heavy that board is. Plus the guy is short.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403676

I usually raise the flop here but if he's bluffing I want him to be able to rep spades on a turn or something like that. If he's drawing he only has six outs not eight (if I get threeflushed over threeflushed with a queen, frowns.) so I'm okay with letting him draw. River is close but might be a fold; he's probably not three barreling air and he's probably not value betting a worse nine. Catching running tens seemed so unlikely, though, and there were so many missed draws I decided to pay off the one that hit. I think I should probably just raise flop and have done with it but that might be results oriented.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403690

I was almost positive he had a nine on the turn, but if he has a nine we're getting it in anyway, so I wanted to max value from kings and bluffs by calling and letting him lead river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403695

I had a read that he checkraised draws. It was wrong or he mixes it up :/

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403704

Neat.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403708

Heh, I thought he had hearts but couldn't exactly induce a bluff and then fold getting 3:1.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403712

Normally I would raise the flop, but it's so dry that I'd rather let him second barrel. Turn sucks, so raising isn't great anymore, then when he overshoves river it's T_T and fold. His line looks like two pair or a set.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403718

Pretty standard, A7s is a little light to call with but not that bad. He hit and ran me after this hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403722

Um, right.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403726

Better lucky than good. Turn is sort of spewy compared to check behind and call river to snap off floats or whatever, though. My hand was essentially a bluff except against a flush draw which I think I get more value from by calling river.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403731

I guess he just religiously fourbets pocket pairs in the hopes that the other guy has AK?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403733

Going for the river checkraise from the ace if he has it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403737

Pretty standard.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403739

Also kinda standard, except for not raising the flop. I didn't want him to just threebet me off the hand and planned to take it away on the turn, then he bets again except I'm open-ended and the ace might be good.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403747

I dunno why I'm not raising donks as often this session, especially in this hand where it's almost certainly the right line. Anyway, raise flop, I like turn and river. Who donks ace high?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403755

This looks weird but after the river I was pretty sure he didn't have a king and so my hand was best on the turn and I wanted to bet it for value. Nice river. He tanked forevvvvvvvvver though, so my thought process may need re-evaluating.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403761

Kinda nitty but either the other guy has a million outs or I'm crushed, and that bet is actually looking like an overpair or two pair, not a draw.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403766

Standard.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403769

Hm, that's just all sorts of fun. Shoving the flop is gross because he won't call anything worse except AJ. I might want to make it like $15 on the turn because it sets up a river shove, but I dunno how good my hand even is on the river, which actually means I should probably question the turn bet, too. His flop line looks like a club draw, though; top pair would probably lead and threebet. He's not calling a river bet with busted clubs unless he has the Kc and even then it's a pretty spewy call so I play it safe.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403779

Normally I lean towards folding the river, but when he checks the flop behind and all the draws miss his line looks very bluffy. I didn't really take gutshots into account of "draws."

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403782

I think he would've led a ten on the river to get value from ace high, so I bet here to get value from his ace high. Apparently he's not that aggro; I would expect him to lead 99 for the same reasons as leading a ten.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403789

River is the only questionable part of the hand. I considered c/c, but didn't want him checking a nine behind. In hindsight, though, he's probably not calling a nine three times. c/f is something I didn't consider at the time ("I has top pair") but might not be that bad because he's not floating the flop and turn and I can't really think of any worse hands he could have. I actually think c/f is best or c/c a small bet.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1403800

Yeah, not a lot I could do here. Flop raise is small because I don't want to blow him off his ace, which is why I froze up and called the flop instead of pushing.

grr, nits

Right, today's session wasn't a whole lot of fun because it basically went grind grind grind grind cooler grind grind cooler grind etc. I think I actually played okay except for maybe a couple hands which will be posted below.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392679

This is like the fourth hand. Checking turn behind to keep queens around and pot control vs trips. Rivered boat o rly. I have to chop about 2/3 of the time here for this to work, plus he might have a queen trying to rebluff. Plus, I mean, quads/royal?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392693

Slowplaying your good hands? Hm, that checkraise seems like a draw. If it's the NFD, kudos, but if not or you actually had a jack go away now.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392695

It looks really gross to call the turn and fold the river brick, but the guy wasn't double barreling his bluffs, meaning that while I think he's checkraising air (granted, could be 97 but I think he leads flop) a lot of the time when he bets the river he's got top pair beat.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392706

At least the turn wasn't the 7d...either he had a ten or a draw on the flop. Or maybe a seven. Betting basically violates the prime rule, so I think just checking behind and calling a river bet on a nondiamond river is best. That four is bad because it gives 86 a straight, too. I dunno what I would've done had he bet; probably crying called but I'm not sure if it's +ev.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392723

Quads you right back, MFer.

Right, so that ended up busting that guy. I nuked two shortstacks and started playing this guy:

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392730

Not really a whole lot I can do here. I like checking the turn more than betting because I think he folds all non AK hands if I bet but might bet a queen or maybe KJ or just air. I'm pretty sure folding is just terrible.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392733

This was only interesting because of the minraise on the hand where he had kings up. His line looks bluffy, but I don't think he's aggro enough to call 97 and then shove it, so he either has a ten, which I think is unlikely, or a weakish ace.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1392748

Guy was fairly tight postflop, but I'm still not sure about this one. Like, I think he calls ace high once but not twice because that's what most people tend to do, so I don't hate it on the surface, but it still feels spewy. I quit him after this because it was a long session and I wasn't sure if I was playing optimally.

Video session

Right, so there'll soon be a video up of my most recent session. However, camtasia takes forever to render, so it's taking a while. Meantime:


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375451

I threebet like a girl, but his fourbet isn't much better. Standard aside from that.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375400

That's not the first time he'd made a fairly small threebet; the last time he had 99. I dunno how I feel about this one. Like, on the turn he's made two reasonable bets. On the other hand, it's a reraised pot. If he's going for value he should probably be betting harder, which leads me to suspect his hand is a little weak. On the flop I suspected him of perhaps having a queen, and on the turn I tried to blow him off something like AT. (note: that's probably stupid, I imagine people who are threebetting AT aren't folding it) Should probably make it $40, too. I suck out on the river and don't even get paid, which really confuses me. I think he had AJ or AT (or QcXc I guess?) because I can't see how he can bet/call the turn and then fold the river unless he has AT and beats like nothing. This one is kinda confusing.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375443

Pretty standard. In the other guys shoes I might flat the flop because of odds and position, but whatever.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375456

All: Please have fewer boats when I have trips. tyvm.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375460

I'm not too sure about the turn call. He either has air or TPGK+, and it's hard to say which. Flop I think is fine, but this was pretty early on and I dunno how I feel about calling second barrels readless. Actually I do; I'm not that okay with it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1375465

The double barrel might not be fantastic, but I mean, even if he just made a flush I probably have outs. I like it overall. River is sweet and standard.

long one

Yeah, so I had a session a few days ago that I never got around to blogging because I had to drive to Seattle and back (175 mi each way :<) to find a place to live next year. Finished down a buyin and a half there, not too many interesting hands because essentially some shortstack sat, ran hot for a while, then left.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367580

I had to tank before I just flat called the river instead of pushing, but I think if I just flat call the river that calling the turn is wrong. On the other hand, folding the turn seems atrocious. I didn't shove the river because he only calls Q8s and Q9 that I beat, as opposed to QJ and KQ that I don't. This actually doesn't make much sense.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367600

I'm not sure how much I like this because it's exactly how he would play 86, but because of that he could have flush draws or a seven here too. Calling sucks because like half the deck sucks, folding isn't that good, hm well please don't have 86 or 75.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367610

I thought I was being really clever at picking off his missed flush draw because he was aggro enough that I couldn't see him limping Kx or Ax. I don't really hate my line but heh on me.

For some reason pokerhand.org seems to not like converting hands where someone threebets preflop and the other guy folds. I had T8o on the button with $65 stacks and got threebet and elected to fold. I think if we're a bit deeper or it's suited it's a call.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367618

I had a timing tell to threebet preflop; it's completely unstandard. Flop is gross for obvious reasons but if he has AQ/KQ he's flat calling the flop so I think he either has a draw, a low pocket pair, or a weak queen that can't take a lot of heat and shove.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367632

It's really a shame we're too deep to just shove the flop, but after I make it $25 I can only really fold the 8s; pretty much anything else and we have to run it out.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367637

I could c/r flop but that basically turns my hand into a bluff. I was gonna just c/r the turn because if he's bluffing he's not triple barreling and if he's not he just got punked. Checking behind is asfajsdfkljsdf but I figure if he calls $20 on the river he calls a shove so let's do it. His river call is really kinda sketchy imo, he really only beats like KJ and bluffs. My image was pretty aggro but I don't get out of line that often in reraised pots.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367653

I misplayed this hand pretty badly, I like making it $25 on the turn because he can't fold an ace or a flush draw. I don't mind the flop because shoving might fold a weak ace or a flush draw but going for the checkraise is just greedy and stupid; he's not gonna bet A9 or whatever and if the river is a spade I just stacked myself. As it is, missed value. Balls.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367659

I don't hate this because he basically needs an eight or a flush to call and my line is suspicious enough that he might fold an eight some of the time. However, on the turn his hand really does look like 87 ; half pot there looks like a scared value bet. If he had a pair he'd bet harder but he doesn't and he's afraid of getting blown off his straight.


http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367671

Well that didn't work out.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367673

As I was making the river bet I was wondering what I would do if he raised and decided my line looked bluffy enough that I'd call a small raise. Then he potted. Arrrgh. I think c/c on the river is best because he's probably not folding a king there, but otoh he's probably not betting a queen, either. Still, he might bluff the naked As and he'll never call it.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367678

This is kinda sketch after he makes that small threebet over my checkraise; either he has an overpair and is instacalling my shove or he's trying to rebluff me and might call with like AQ. I was trying to reverse the Yeti Theorem (threebets [fourbets in my case] on dry paired boards are always bluffs) on him but he actually looked me up with a hand. I'm not sure how okay I am with tptk for 200BBs here because of the presence of 99+ but it's hu and I can't really just be a nit.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367688

I dunno. I like the flop, but I sort of feel like I should have bet the turn or river. On the other hand, A8/A9 are aces up, and I dunno if he's folding AT/AJ there so I'm only folding out three worse hands and even then not all of the time. I guess this is fine but maybe folding preflop is best because I'm so easily dominated? I have position though...not too sure about this one.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367698

This is money because it sets up the below hand.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367700

I spent forever trying to make a hand against this guy because he kept looking me up in smaller pots. Bam.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367703

Bluffing flop, continuing on turn. River is actually for value because I usually just shove when near pot sized bets are most of a stack on the theory that they'll usually call about the same range. I think if it's the Ac he looks me up with a king but as it is I've spent too much time representing 45 or a flush draw to make this look credible. Still, if I bet 1/2 pot he's obv folding because all the draws got there though.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1367711

(he was thanking me for letting him fold the river in the above hand by shoving)

I was pretty sure he was just FOS here, but wanted the turn to brick so that my equity against draws got better since I'm stacking off to all queens.

questions, comments, etc, go nuts. Frogboy4L on AIM, you probably got here through pokertips.org so you can PM me there, whatever.

another day another session

Finished up a buyin against a very tight player. He was very nitty and started out being easy to float, then he caught me a few times and started to loosen up.

As I'm writing this I'm having idle thoughts of needing to checkraise more and being aware that I don't make large bluffs very often and might want to rethink that slightly.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349421

I took bet-check-bet because I didn't think the guy would call twice with an ace but could sense weakness with a jack or pocket pair. I dunno what he actually had; a jack with a weak kicker or like nines?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349429

He tanked forever on the river before calling. I started bluffing him less and valuetowning him more after this one.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349437

Arrrrgh I hate value betting into better hands. Preflop is loose but not too bad since the guy is still giving up on a lot of turns. The timing on the turn was such that I felt like he had ace high and I wanted to get a hero call on the river. Third pair is actually pretty close to ace high there because fours, threes, and deuces are in like none of my preflop ranges.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349440

I should raise more on the river, $15 is better. I was too scared of the flush, but since I'm folding to a threebet I think $15 is fine.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349442

This kinda sucks because on the turn I'm screaming "I have AK, bluff me!" and I might've gotten post-oaked on that river but he would have to have AdXd for his line to make any sort of sense with air.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349445

The turn basically turns my hand into a bluff but that's okay because the flop checkraise represents 5x too. I need to checkraise more flops; I'm probably missing a lot of value.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349449

I dunno what I was thinking on that turn, guy isn't aggro enough to bet a flush draw so his worst holding here is like 98. Actually I think I remember contemplating a shove but that's bad too.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349453

Because of how the last few threebet hands played out and because of the board I wanted to c/c the turn and b/f a nonspade river (vomit and probably c/f a spade river) to max value from his bluffs because he's probably crushed but given how the AK hands played out he might take a stab. River I'm trying to represent a frustrated As but I guess it didn't work out; $15?

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349459

After that small raise on backdoored Broadway I decided to bet like an adult here, figuring that if he's calling any reasonable raise it's probably safer to make it larger because I think he calls $30 and $35 roughly the same frequency.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349461

I think this is standard; in position with a fairly well hidden flush draw that will probably be paid off my implied odds on the turn are super good. The seven gives my hand showdown value but worse hands never call obv.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349465

Was just gonna float flop, then made a pair. I don't think he'll bet the river without a king so I don't like c/c but not a lot of his turn holdings have a king in them so the only argument for betting smaller is giving better odds to worse pairs.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349468

Checkraising the turn looks a lot stronger than giving him 3:1 on the river. Shoving the flop is bad because if he has AJ I only have twelve outs and am the flip bitch, and my implied odds are pretty good. (not to say if he has AJ and the river is the 4d that I don't go broke, but I try hard not to stack myself.)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349473

I can actually feel him tilting. (river call: trips over trips HU getting 4:1 = call)

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349475

I dunno if the above hand makes this a better or a worse call.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349480

I kinda want to valuebet this river but why would a jack checkraise this flop.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349486

It's a reraised pot, let's get it in before the turn is a deuce or a club. In retrospect, there's some merit in playing the hand for maximum death and flat calling the flop and checkraising any nondeuce turn all in, maybe c/cing a club turn because the Ac is unaccounted for but then I'm gonna have an unpleasant river experience.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349495

I dunno what to do if I don't turn the draw. Like, I don't beat much, which I guess mostly just means I should fold preflop, but that's a smallish threebet and I have some measure of implied odds on a lot of flops. I think without it I just call three streets and if we have full stacks and he shoves the turn or river probably reluctantly fold. Still, he showed up here with AQ!

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349502

I am a weak-tight nit. I seriously thought about quitting him right here, but didn't because I didn't hate my logic. He's c/c'd all reraised flops so far. I have to check the turn, and he will then bet and I'll have to fold or shove, and shoving sucks because if I had a hand I'd just bet the flop. I can call once because my hand is so obviously weak but I think when he bets twice he has a weak pair / is basically never bluffing a worse ace high (particularly since AT et al have some measure of showdown value when I've been this passive) and I have to fold.

http://www.pokerhand.org/?1349513

arrgh value betting worse hands :x. I think it's fine because I think Kx folds the turn and if he has Ax I think second pair good kicker is fine for two bets.